


Which boy do you want, Elsa?

by avalotsnow



Series: Elsamaren summer 2020 [5]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Elsamaren Summer 2020 (Disney), F/F, and Elsa and Anna's brother, but he's a little boy and not a snowman, i will always love you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25367458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avalotsnow/pseuds/avalotsnow
Summary: Elsa's family is so excited about the prospect of her finding a cute boy to date while on holiday, but is that what Elsa really wants?
Relationships: Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney)
Series: Elsamaren summer 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835251
Comments: 7
Kudos: 97
Collections: Elsamaren Summer 2020





	Which boy do you want, Elsa?

‘Come on, Elsa, come swimming with us,’ Anna said.

‘No, thank you,’ Elsa replied for the fifth time that morning.

‘You’re not still upset about the party, are you?’ Anna asked. ‘Because that was two days ago.’

Of course, Elsa was still upset about that. It had been the most mortifying night of her life and she was never ever going to forget it or get over it. She just wanted to world to swallow her whole.

‘You wouldn’t understand, Anna. You’re just a child.’

‘And so are you, Elsa,’ Iduna said as she walked into the kitchen bouncing Olaf on her hip. ‘It was just one night. You’re only fifteen, so there will be plenty of opportunities to impress boys.’

‘Whatever,’ Elsa said, getting up from the breakfast table and grabbing her backpack. ‘I’m leaving.’

‘And where might you be going?’ Iduna asked.

‘I want to draw the fjord from the other side so I’m walking that way,’ Elsa said. 

‘You’re not going with your sister?’ Agnarr asked. Great now the whole family was here.

‘No, she doesn’t need me to watch her,’ Elsa said. ‘She’s old enough to go by herself.’

‘I thought I was just a child,’ Anna teased.

Urgh, her whole family was so annoying, except maybe Olaf but that was because he could barely speak. She just wanted to get away from them. They had spent all day together the day before, constantly telling Elsa that her faux pas hadn’t been that bad when she just wanted to forget about it. She was not about to have another day like that. She just wanted to be alone.

‘Let’s sit and talk about it,’ Iduna said.

Elsa sunk back into her seat to endure the millionth family talk they had had that summer alone. In the end, they let her go off by herself because Anna was going to swim with a group from the holiday centre so there would be adults around. Papa was going to take Olaf to the toddler park because he loved going down the waterslides – Olaf, not papa. Mama decided to play tennis. So after fifteen minutes, Elsa finally got to walk out of their vacation home and be alone.

~*~*~

Elsa walked for quite a while, climbing over the occasional rock until she reached the spot where the fjord veered right. Looking around for a landscape to draw, Elsa could see their vacation home in the distance. It was by far the biggest house on the fjord and there were several big homes on either side of it. The ostentatious display of wealth never sat well with Elsa. Having been born an Arendelle came with a lot of wealth and privilege but the pressure of being something she felt she wasn’t was too much for Elsa at times. 

The Arendelles had given up their kingdom many years ago but they still had an important place in society. Other upper class people looked up at them and while her parents were classy and smart, Anna was sociable and funny, and Olaf was cute and cuddly, Elsa had always been shy and awkward. 

She tried to cover that up by being smart and memorizing things to say in social situations, not that that had helped her two nights ago. Shaking off memories of that night, Elsa kept walking along the shore, trying to get away from her world as much as possible. 

Elsa finally found a spot she liked and made herself comfortable on a rock. From this vantage point she could look across the fjord but what really drew her eye was the island half way across it.

Focussing on her art, Elsa felt at ease for the first time in days. Days leading up to a fancy event were always supremely stressful, and how it went this time had done nothing to calm her down afterwards, but now she felt calm and peaceful.

Elsa continued drawing for a few hours, talking the occasional break to stretch her legs or munch on a snack. After a few experimental sketches, her final version was really starting to take shape.

‘That looks really cool.’

Elsa shook in alarm at the sudden intrusion and some pencil slid unto the grass.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’

Elsa turned to see the source of the voice climbing down the cliff side and bending down to pick up the pencils. 

‘I just saw you drawing and it looks amazing and I wanted to tell you. Sorry again if I scared you.’

Elsa got a look at the stranger and it turned out to be a girl, probably around her age, with long dark hair tied up in a braid that matched her own and she had a kind smile on her face.

‘It’s okay,’ Elsa said. ‘It was just unexpected.’

‘Could I see your drawing up close?’ the girl asked.

Elsa hesitated. She hated showing her art to people. Her biggest fight with Anna had been when she had snuck into her room and looked at her sketchbook a few years ago. Now she kept them locked away. And this girl was a complete stranger.

‘Who are you?’ Elsa asked instead, hoping she didn’t sound too rude.

But the girl didn’t seem to take any offensive and shot another grin her way. 

‘Right, sorry,’ the girl said. ‘I’m Honeymaren, well just Maren. I used to go by Honeymaren but I’m older now so I’ve decided to be Maren. I’m still getting used to it though.’

Maren had held out her hand for Elsa to shake while she was talking.

‘Okay, Maren,’ Elsa said, taking her hand. ‘I’m Elsa.’

‘Elsa,’ Maren said, pausing for a moment. ‘So, what do you say? Can I have a look?’

Nervously Elsa handed over the paper. She was very worried what this girl would say and for some reason really wanted to impress her.

‘Wow,’ Maren said. ‘I was wondering what the figure was. She’s so beautiful.’

Amongst the trees on the island Elsa had drawn Huldra, a seductive forest creature. She had been including a female figure of some sort in all her landscape drawings for a few years now. Another reason why she definitely didn’t want her family to see them.

‘It’s Huldra,’ Elsa said.

‘What’s that?’ Maren asked.

‘It’s a figure from Norse folklore. There are lots of stories about them but they are supposed to be wardens of nature. The women are really beautiful, while the men are supposed to be hideous.’

Maren laughed openly at that. ‘Well, I can only agree with that.’

‘What do you mean?’ Elsa asked.

‘I agree that women are beautiful but men… not so much,’ Maren said.

‘Oh.’

‘You’re very pretty for example.’

Elsa blushed at that. Was this girl flirting with her? Her mother had always said that if a boy liked you, he might say you’re pretty so that was probably true for girls as well. But then Anna’s friends said she was beautiful all the time and they couldn’t possibly all fancy Anna.

At least a minute passed without Elsa saying anything. She should probably thank this strange girl who appeared out of nowhere, but she didn’t really know what to say. 

‘Where are you from?’ Maren asked after a few more moments.

What did she mean by that? Did she mean in general or specifically today? Elsa realised other people didn’t worry about things like this and that not answering a simple question like this was really odd.

‘I’m from the Northuldra region,’ Maren said to Elsa’s relief. ‘My parents run the campsite North of here in the summer and my brother and I have to help. It’s a bit unfair since it’s our summer holiday but it’s tough being Northuldra nowadays so all little bits help.’

Elsa knew all about the Northuldra. Her ancestors fought them about a century ago and were the main reason the Northuldra still struggled today. She certainly couldn’t tell Maren that.

‘I bet you’re from Arendelle. You look kinda fancy.’

Elsa nodded, admitting to being from Arendelle wasn’t the same as admitting she was an Arendelle. It was a pretty big city so she could be anyone.

‘Are you here on holiday?’ Maren asked, not giving up.

‘Yes, my family has a summer house here,’ Elsa said, leaving out that they had three more summer homes in different parts of Norway.

‘That’s cool,’ Maren said. ‘What sort of things do you get up to?’

‘All sorts.’

‘What’s your favourite thing to do?’

Elsa pointed at her drawing. She hated how difficult talking was for her. Maren seemed nice and was so pretty and Elsa really wanted to talk to her so why couldn’t she?

‘I like to draw too,’ Maren said. ‘I’m not good like you and it’s a very different style too, but I like it.’

Elsa handed Maren a few pencils and flipped the page in her sketchbook, ‘show me, please.’

Maren started working right away. While she was working Maren talked a little about what she usually drew and the materials she liked to use, but mostly she worked quietly. Elsa couldn’t see what she was drawing but just watching her made Elsa feel calmer.

Elsa could see the difference in style in the way Maren was using her pencils. She was putting more pressure on them for one and seemed to stick with a single colour much longer than Elsa would. 

When Maren was done, she flipped over the sketchbook to show Elsa her drawing. It was a drawing of Elsa, but just her face and shoulders. Her braid was draped across one of them and there was a small smile on her face. The resemblance was very strong and Elsa was impressed Maren had been able to do that in such a short time.

‘That’s really amazing, Maren.’

‘Thanks,’ Maren said, and for the first time since meeting her Elsa could tell Maren was feeling a little self-conscious. ‘You should see it with markers or paint though. The colours will pop more.’

‘I would love to see that.’

‘Yeah?’ Maren looked surprised. ‘Do you want to meet up again? I could bring some of my work.’

‘Okay.’

The word had left Elsa’s mouth before she could stop herself.

‘Wow,’ Maren said. ‘Cool. And maybe you could bring some of yours. I can see you only just started this sketchbook.’ 

Elsa thought of the sketchbook she had hidden in the secret compartment in her suitcase. It was filled with drawings of beautiful women in different landscapes. If Maren saw them she would know her secret for sure. But then again hadn’t Maren said she preferred women? Maybe it would be okay.

‘I can’t be here tomorrow,’ Maren said. ‘But I can meet you on Friday.’

‘Okay,’ Elsa said again.

‘Great,’ Maren said. ‘I have to go to work now but I’ll see you here on Friday at ten?’

‘Okay.’ She was starting to sound like a broken record.

‘Can’t wait, Elsa.’

With impressive speed, Maren scaled the rock face and jumped over the ridge and out of sight. Not ready to go home Elsa spent the next hour trying to draw Maren, but no matter what she did she couldn’t get the smile right. It was sweet and cocky at the same time and even though it was so clear in her mind, she couldn’t get it on the page.

~*~*~

‘So then these five guys jumped off the cliff at the same time and made these enormous waves that washed the rest of us away!’ Anna said.

‘Jumping off those cliffs is pretty dangerous,’ Agnarr said.

‘They were fine, papa!’

‘You didn’t try, did you?’

‘No, of course not,’ Anna said. ‘And afterwards we hung out on the beach. There were really cute guys there too.’

‘Aren’t you a bit young to be looking at cute guys?’ Agnarr asked.

‘Not for me, for Elsa,’ Anna said. ‘You really should have come.’

Elsa wasn’t really listening. Her mind was on the list of possible things to talk to Maren about she had been composing in her room before dinner. So far they included art, nature and mythology. She would feel much better if she had some things prepared. 

‘Did you have a good time today, Elsa?’ Iduna asked, but Elsa didn’t hear her, so placing a hand on her arm she tried again. ‘Elsa? Did you have a good time today?’

‘Oh,’ Elsa said, ‘yeah, I did. I found a nice, secluded spot and drew.’

‘Show me,’ Anna said, reaching into Elsa’s empty backpack.

‘It’s not there,’ Elsa said, ‘and you know I don’t like people looking at my work.’

‘You’re such a stinker,’ Anna said.

‘Anna,’ Iduna warned, ‘be nice. Elsa will share her work when she’s ready.’

‘Weren’t you bored all on your own?’ Agnarr asked.

Elsa thought of Maren and felt a blush creep up her face. She muttered no and hoped her family wouldn’t notice her red cheeks, but of course they did.

‘Oooee,’ Anna teased, ‘Elsa’s blushing! I guess she wasn’t alone. Did you meet a cute guy up there?’

‘No,’ Elsa said, stabbing at the broccoli on her plate. She hated these conversations more than anything.

‘Anna, stop teasing your sister. If she met a nice boy, she doesn’t have to tell us.’

‘Well, Iduna,’ Agnarr said, ‘we’d have to make sure he’s good enough for her.’

‘Elsa can decide that for herself.’

‘Yeah,’ Anna added, ‘and Elsa doesn’t like anyone so if he managed to melt the Ice Princess over here, he must be alright.’

Iduna was about to step in again. She knew Elsa did not care for the nickname she had been given a few years back when she didn’t want to slow dance with any of the boys at a school party, but luckily Olaf saved the day by throwing his plate onto the floor and the topic changed as Agnarr told them about Olaf’s fun on the slides.

After dinner, Elsa went to her room and locked the door. She pulled her sketchbook from its hiding place and looked at her sketches of Maren. The smile may not have worked, but she got the eyes just right. There was something so soulful about them and it made Elsa feel things she tried to deny she felt at all most of the time.

She had been thirteen when she first suspected she liked girls in the way everyone expected her to like boys. An exchanged student had come to their school for a year and Elsa made it her mission to cross paths with her as much as possible. She was a few years older and they never exchanged a word, but from that moment on Elsa knew she would never be the same again.

But she couldn’t tell her family that. It wasn’t as though they were generally homophobic, but she was an Arendelle and that meant she had to fit the mould. So Elsa hadn’t said anything while the conversations about her liking boys became more frequent, and more upsetting.

A sudden knock on the door, brought Elsa back to her room. She shoved the sketchbook back in its hiding place and ran to unlock the door.

‘Hello darling.’ It was her mother.

‘Hey mama,’ Elsa replied as her mother walked passed her and sat down on her bed.

‘Come here, I want to talk to you for a moment.’

‘Okay.’ 

‘I’ve spoken to your sister and told her not to tease you so much,’ Iduna said. ‘I remember what it was like being your age when you’re starting to like boys and the last thing you need is your sister making it harder for you.’

‘Okay.’

‘I think that’s what went wrong at the party too. You were too nervous and it was all a bit too much. But I want to help so you can meet the right boy and replace that bad experience with a good one.’

‘Okay.’ Elsa was worried this word would start to define her completely. Perhaps her epitaph would simply read “Here lies Elsa, she was okay”.

‘So your father and I have decided to have a little party here this weekend. We will invite some nice boys and you can have a do-over.’

‘Oh,’ Elsa said, thinking this was possibly the worst news ever, ‘you really don’t need to do that.’

‘No, we want to. We love you so much, darling, and want you to be happy. It won’t be too formal and Anna will be there with some of her friends too.’

Her mind going a mile a minute, Elsa couldn’t really see a way out of this. When her mother decided she wanted to do something she would do it. And she wasn’t really ready to find out if her mother really loved her as much as she said by telling her the truth.

~*~*~

The next day, Elsa went shopping for a party outfit with her mother and sister and some of her sister’s friends. Elsa picked something out in the first shop as she didn’t really care and spent the rest of the afternoon looking up information on her phone about the conversation topics she had chosen for Maren while the rest of them tried on clothes.

Elsa had convinced her parents to let her spent Friday on her own to prepare for the busy Saturday. They didn’t really understand why she needed quiet time but they had stopped questioning it.

On Friday morning, Elsa spent longer than usual getting ready. She changed outfits several times before settling on dark shorts and a t-shirt with a rainbow on it. Her parents never thought anything of it but she hoped Maren would get the hint.

When she arrived at the small beach, Maren was already there. Her grin was every bit as exuberant as Elsa remembered and she was fairly certain it matched her own.

‘Hey Elsa,’ Maren said. ‘Nice shirt.’

_It worked!_ Elsa thought as she returned the greeting. They settled down on a blanket Maren had brought and showed each other their work. Maren’s work was bold and colourful – a lot like her and Elsa didn’t struggle to find compliments. Maren was equally appreciative of Elsa’s work and was particularly impressed by her drawing of Rán caught in a storm at sea.

Trusting her prepared topics, Elsa found it easy to talk to Maren, but after a while she noticed a slight frown had found its way onto Maren’s face.

‘What’s wrong?’ Elsa asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

‘I could ask you the same thing,’ Maren said. ‘Why are you talking like an encyclopaedia?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘It sounds like you’re reciting information instead of just talking.’

Embarrassment overwhelmed Elsa. Why did she think she could do this? She couldn’t talk to a pretty girl without making a complete fool of herself. And now she was starting to cry. Great, this couldn’t be going worse.

‘Hey,’ Maren said, reaching out to place a hand on Elsa’s. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just hoping to have a normal conversation with you.’

_Normal. Of course, Maren was normal and wanted to talk to someone who was too. Not some awkward weirdo who can’t string two sentences together without having prepared them first_ , Elsa thought.

‘Well, that’s not going to happen,’ Elsa said. ‘I can’t do that.’

‘Oh, is it me?’ Maren asked. ‘You don’t want to talk to me?’

‘No,’ Elsa said, feeling miserable. ‘Talking is just hard for me.’

‘Oh, well that’s okay,’ Maren said. ‘Shutting up is hard for me so we can balance each other out. I just don’t want you to put on a show for me.’

Maren lifted Elsa’s chin with a finger so she could look her in the eye. ‘You can just be yourself, and if that means you’re quiet, I don’t care. We can still spend time together.’

Elsa nodded and turned back to her sketchbook. Part of her wanted to run, but Maren was being so kind and if she really could be quiet for a while, she might relax enough to be able to stay.

‘Let’s just draw for a while,’ Elsa whispered.

And they did. For the next two hours or so, Elsa said very little as she drew a forest landscape with Maren right in the middle of it climbing a tree. Maren on the other hand told Elsa a bunch of stories like how climbing trees was one of her favourite things to do, while she worked on her own drawing of Rán. As she had hoped, Elsa felt a lot calmer and even managed a few full sentences here and there.

‘It’s getting so hot!’ Maren exclaimed suddenly. ‘Do you want to go for a swim? We could swim to the island.’

Elsa looked across the water and the distance seemed entirely doable and it would be nice to cool down a little. So she agreed and they both stripped down to their swim suits and ran into the fjord.

It was only a short swim in the end and Elsa and Maren started to explore the island. It was full of trees and the shade made it a lot cooler than the beach.

‘Have you not been on the island before?’ Elsa asked.

‘Nah,’ Maren said. ‘We really don’t get much time off to explore. Actually, my parents wanted me to work today too, but I begged my brother to cover for me. He said he would if I took over two of his days. I figured I could do those after you leave.’

‘Oh,’ Elsa said, feeling bad Maren had made such a sacrifice to spend a day with her.

‘Hey Elsa,’ Maren said as she stepped in front of her, ‘totally worth it.’

Maren started looking for the perfect tree to climb so she could teach Elsa how to climb, completely ignoring Elsa’s reassurance that she had climbed trees before. Having selected the perfect one, they climbed until they were sitting on a sturdy branch. They were hidden by the leaves but could still look out onto the water themselves.

‘Back when the Northuldra lived in the forest, they used the trees for cover all the time,’ Maren said. ‘They would climb up and remain completely still until their enemy or prey were close enough and they would pounce.’

‘Have you ever done that?’

‘Only with my brother. I would hide up a tree and when he’d come looking for me, which he always did, I’d scare him half to death by jumping out right in front of him. Because what are brothers for if you can’t annoy them.’

‘Sounds very familiar,’ Elsa said.

‘Do you have a brother?’

‘Yes, but he’s only little. He turned two a few months ago, but I have a sister who’s a few years younger than me. We used to get up to all sorts of stuff.’

Elsa and Maren stayed on the branch swapping stories for a while until Elsa mentioned she and Anna weren’t that close anymore.

‘Why not?’ Maren asked.

‘You know what,’ Elsa said, ignoring the question. ‘I’m getting a little uncomfortable. Let’s swim back to the beach.’

They swam back in silence and Elsa worried she had insulted Maren by not answering her question. It had been going so well.

Back on the beach, Maren said, ‘I’m sorry if I was prying.’

Of course, Maren wasn’t insulted, of course, she was worried she had done something wrong because she is the nicest.

‘No, you weren’t,’ Elsa said. ‘I’ve just never talked about it.’

‘It’s okay if you don’t want to.’

‘No, it’s okay,’ Elsa said. ‘I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed this about me anyway.’

Taking a deep breath, Elsa prepared herself to say out loud what she had only ever thought before. 

‘A few years ago, I went to my first boy/girl dance and my sister, and my mother too for that matter, were so excited about the idea of me dancing with a boy and having a crush on some boy, and when I didn’t really feel that way I didn’t really know what to say to them,’ Elsa said. ‘And later on when I had my first crush I never told them, because I didn’t know, and still don’t know, how to tell them that I like girls.’

Maren slowly took Elsa’s hand in her own and gave it a gentle squeeze.

‘I know they love me,’ Elsa continued. ‘But I don’t know if they love me enough. They have this idea of me and want me to date a boy so badly that they’re throwing a party tomorrow just to make that happen.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah,’ Elsa said. ‘There was a party a few days ago and I embarrassed myself so much that my parents felt so bad that they’re throwing me another party. They think I embarrassed myself because I was so nervous and excited but that’s not what happened at all.’

‘What happened?’

‘It’s so bad, Maren, I can’t tell you. I want you to like me.’

‘Elsa, I like you, I promise. I think you’re cute and sweet and smart, but I am also dying to hear this embarrassing story.’

‘Fine,’ Elsa said.

So Elsa told her how she had been trying to avoid eye contact with every boy there so she could get through the night and go home. But one boy had set his sights on her. She later found out he was the cutest boy there, although that might just have been Anna’s opinion. Anyway, this boy kept talking to her. Luckily he wasn’t really interested in anything she had to say so she could just nod, but then he wanted to dance. He pulled her close and Elsa instinctively threw her drink in his face and stepped back. Unfortunately she had not noticed the table full of snacks behind her and she fell into it. The table broke in half and she was covered in food while the whole room laughed.

Elsa could see Maren was trying very hard not to laugh now. Although it was a pretty funny image now that she was thinking about it and it didn’t seem so bad while she was sitting on a beach with a girl she actually liked.

‘It’s okay, you can laugh,’ Elsa said.

‘I’m sorry, it’s just a great image. I can just picture it: Young Lesbian Accosted by Clueless Boy.’

Elsa was a bit shocked at hearing herself being described as a lesbian. The word had always felt scary to her. Maren seemed unfazed though and was still chuckling beside her.

‘Are you a lesbian, Maren?’

‘Yeah,’ Maren said, looking surprised. ‘I thought that was obvious.’

Maybe it had been. Elsa certainly never felt like Maren was just trying to be her friend.

‘Have you been with girls?’

‘No, not really,’ Maren said. ‘I held hands with a girl once but she decided she wasn’t really into girls after all. What about you?’

‘No,’ Elsa said. She couldn’t imagine a scenario in which that would have happened. ‘I don’t know if I can be. I don’t want to let my family down.’

‘Oh,’ Maren said, letting go of Elsa’s hand. ‘I thought …’

Maren never finished her thought, but Elsa knew what it was anyway and she felt like she had ruined whatever had been growing between them. 

‘They call me the Ice Princess,’ Elsa said. ‘Because I am so cold.’

Maren just looked at her before saying, ‘I should get going. I have to work tonight. There is a big barbecue on the campsite.’

They packed up their things in silence and awkwardly said goodbye. Elsa couldn’t help but notice they had not made plans to see each other again.

~*~*~

Elsa spent most of the evening in her room crying and ignoring her family. The next day she helped around the house as they got ready for a party she was dreading more every second. In the afternoon, Elsa took Olaf to the water for a bit of a break.

Anna’s friends came to the house very early as they all got ready together. They invited Elsa to join but she decided to get dressed on her own. Half an hour before the party was meant to start, Elsa was still looking at drawings of Maren, regretting how things had ended more than ever, when her mother knocked on her door again.

‘You’re not ready yet,’ her mother said.

‘It doesn’t take that long to put a dress on, mama.’

‘But your hair? And your make-up?’

‘I can just put some mascara on and braid my hair,’ Elsa said.

‘No, that won’t do at all,’ her mother said, walking to the door and shouting at Anna to come to Elsa’s room. ‘I’ll do your make-up and Anna will do your hair.’

For twenty minutes, her mother and sister pulled and prodded to turn her into someone they deemed acceptable for a party, and Elsa couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to be grateful. Then her father made them come downstairs to pose in front of the fireplace.

‘You’re very pretty,’ her father said, using the same words Maren had, but this time she felt nothing.

Once the party had started, Elsa used her tried and tested strategy of hugging the walls to keep people away, but her mother kept bringing boys over to introduce them. Elsa was polite but refused all offers to dance and cut conversations short as soon as she could. 

Anna tried to drag her onto the dance floor but she just didn’t want to. Elsa wondered if she would always feel this way. An outsider in her own family. The only way she would fit in was by denying who she really was and that was becoming increasingly difficult.

A few hours after the party had started, Elsa’s mother pulled her into the kitchen.

‘What’s going on, Elsa?’ her mother demanded. ‘We’re throwing this party for you and you’ve just been standing in a corner all night.’

‘I didn’t ask you to do this,’ Elsa said, feeling quite angry all of a sudden. ‘In fact, I told you not to.’

‘You didn’t exactly stop us though, and now there are several nice boys here who want to talk to you and dance with you and you’re just ignoring them.’

‘I just,’ Elsa started. ‘I just …’ But she couldn’t get out what she wanted to say.

‘I can see you’re becoming overwhelmed,’ her mother said. ‘Why don’t you go outside for a moment, calm down and then come back in.’

_Come back in to do what_ , Elsa thought. To have more boys thrown at her when she just wanted them to leave her alone, but she went outside anyway.

The fresh air helped and the view over the fjord was beautiful. Elsa’s eyes landed on the beach. Several couples were walking along the water. Some had stopped to share a kiss. _I should’ve kissed Maren_ , Elsa thought. And then Elsa spotted her. Maren was here, she was sitting on a rock near the water and was looking right at her.

Elsa jumped off the porch and made a beeline for Maren. She was determined, she just wasn’t sure what she was determined to do.

‘Hey,’ Elsa said. ‘What brings you here?’

‘You.’

‘Me?’

‘Yeah, I wanted to give you something.’

‘How did you know where to find me?’

‘Only party in the fancy part near the fjord was here so I came.’

Maren handed her a drawing. It was her but she looked different. Her hair was in her signature braid but her hair was poofier and she was wearing a sparkly dress and there were ice crystals coming from her hand.

‘You said they call you the Ice Princess,’ Maren said. ‘But you said it although it’s a bad thing. It’s not. Ice is strong and powerful and so are you.’

‘Is this really how you see me?’

‘Yeah,’ Maren said. ‘I could tell how hard it was for you to talk to me, but you did it anyway. You didn’t give up. And you shouldn’t because you are so awesome. Look, I don’t know your family so I can’t tell you what to do but not being yourself will only get harder and if they made someone like you they must be pretty great so maybe you should trust them a bit more.’

Elsa looked at the drawing in her hands and then looked at Maren and knew what she wanted to do. Throwing herself at Maren, Elsa’s lips found hers. It was a little awkward, but that’s okay, so was she and Maren didn’t seem to mind.

When they separated Elsa stepped back and said, ‘thank you so much for this.’

‘Thank you for the kiss.’

Elsa chuckled and said, ‘I have to get back, but can I please see you again?’

‘Yes, please,’ Maren said.

‘Great, I just have to- ’ Elsa turned towards the house and saw her mother standing on the porch looking right at her. Her shocked face told Elsa she had seen everything.

Walking away from Maren as though in a daze, Elsa walked back to her mother. There was no denying what she had seen. By the time reached her mother, tears had started filling her eyes.

‘Mama,’ Elsa said, fear gripping her heart. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Oh my darling,’ her mother said with a smile,’ what on earth are you apologising for? I just wished you had told me. I would have invited a very different crowd to this party.’

‘I didn’t know what to say,’ Elsa said, tears streaming down her face. ‘I can’t help feel this way and I am just so scared you’ll stop loving me.’

‘Oh Elsa, please don’t say that, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?’

Elsa nodded as her mother took her face into her hands and looked her right in the eyes.

‘I will always love you.’ Her mother sealed her promise with a kiss and grabbed Elsa’s hand to pull her away from the party and towards Maren. ‘Now, I would love for you to introduce me to your girlfriend.’

**Author's Note:**

> This one got away from me a little... which means the final three prompts will have to wait till tomorrow.
> 
> Also, this prompt was a bit of a challenge for me. I struggled to think of a scenario in which either Elsa or Honeymaren would say this, but as soon as Iduna popped into my head I knew what to do.


End file.
